Secret Expansion of US Drone Base in Djibouti Revealed: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Satellite imagery revealed the secret expansion of a US drone base in the African country of Djibouti, according to a new report.
Satellite images available on the online mapping service, Google Earth, along with US Defense Department documents show that the Pentagon has turned Chabelley Airfield in Djibouti into a hive of high-tech military equipment, the Intercept reported on Thursday.
The airport is an isolated airstrip located some 6 miles (9.5km) to the southwest of Djibouti City, the capital of the country.
In satellite images from several years ago, the airport resembles a strip of tarmac in the middle of a vast desert.
Today, however, the pictures reveal what seems to be a collection of clamshell hangars, satellite dishes, and unmanned planes that the US has deployed there as part of its secret expansion plan.
In February 2013 the Pentagon asked Congress to quickly supply funds for “minimal facilities necessary to enable temporary operations” at Chabelley, Press TV reported.
Official documents obtained by the Washington Post at the time noted that “the construction is not being carried out at a military installation where the United States is reasonably expected to have a long-term presence.”
Despite the alleged temporary nature of the Chabelley site, however, the US inked a “long-term implementing arrangement” with the Djiboutian government to establish Chabelley as an “enduring” base, according to documents provided earlier this year by the Pentagon.
The new revelation comes shortly after a trove of leaked documents revealed a global assassination program that the US has been running using its drones.
The documents, leaked by a security whistleblower dubbed the “New Snowden” in media, described the mechanism of targeting suspects slated for assassination and detailed Washington's measures to hide the extent of civilian casualties resulting from its drone strikes in countries like Yemen and Somalia.